Set in the fictional community of San Encanto, California, the 20 interconnected stories in Elizabeth Stix’s collection Things I Want Back From You are some of the most original I’ve read in years.
The stories don’t follow a specific format–some are written as lists, others as letters. The effect of that choice is a bit off-putting as they do not conform to your expectations as a reader, and the characters do not conform to what we might expect from a well-adjusted human being. That’s what makes it so great. I never knew what would happen next.
Two standout stories include characters who harbor a secret that makes them feel powerful and disturbed. One features a man whose mother has died, and he feels certain she has returned to him in the form of a sentient mole on his shoulder the size, roughly, of an acorn. As she speaks to him, gives him advice, and generally runs his life, he is so happy to still have her but horrified by her command. In another story, a young boy must nightly attend to the worm in his sister’s stomach by trying to calmly and slowly remove it in pieces so that the creature will eventually set her free.
I cannot stop thinking about these bizarre, dark, poignant stories. If you like short fiction, Things I Want Back from You is a great next read.
